INSTRUCTIONAL GENRE
(School Genres)
Dr. Rudi Hartono, S.S., M.Pd.
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
What is meant by the term
‘genre’?
Genre is a style, especially in the
arts, that involves a particular set of
characteristics. (CALD, 2008)
Genres are goal-oriented social
processes that have evolved over
time in our culture to enable us to
achieve our purposes.
Genre-Based Writing
Genres of Writing Functions of Text Schematic
Structures of Text
Linguistic Features
Genres of Writing
Spoofs Anecdotes Recounts Narratives Reports Descriptive Procedures Explanations News Items
Functions of Texts
Texts Functions
Spoofs To retell a humorous twist
Recounts To retell events for the purpose of informing or entertaining
Reports To classify and describe the phenomena of our world. Analytical
Expositions
To persuade the reader or listener that something is in the case
News Items
Functions of Texts
Texts Functions
Anecdotes To share with others an account of an unusual or amusing incident
Narratives
To amuse, entertain and to deal with
actual experience in different ways, I.e. to gain and hold the reader’s interest in a story.
Procedures To describe how something is accomplished through a sequence of actions or steps
Descriptions To describe a particular person, place or thing Hortatory
Expositions
Functions of Texts
Texts Functions
Explanations
To explain the processes involved in the formation or workings of
natural or socio-cultural phenomena
Discussions To present (at least) two points of view about an issue
Reviews To critique an art work or event for a public audience
Commentary
Schematic Structures of
Recounts
Orientation
Event 1
Event 2
Event 3
Linguistic Features of a
Recount Text
Focus on specific participant
Use of material processes
Circumstances of time and place
Use of past tense
Schematic Structures of
Reports
General Classification: tells what
the phenomenon under discussion is.
Description: tells what the
phenomenon under discussion is like in terms of parts (and their
Linguistic Features of a
Report Text
Focus on Generic
Participants
Use Relational
Processes
Use of simple present
tense
No temporal
Schematic Structures of
Narratives
Orientation
Evaluation
Complication
Resolution
Linguistic Features of a
Narrative Text
Focus on specific and usually
individualized participants
Schematic Structures of
Procedures
1) Goal
2) Materials
3) Step 1
4) Step 2
5) Step 3
6) Step 4
Linguistic Features of an
Procedure Text
Focus on generalized human
agents
Use of simple present tense, often
imperative
Use mainly of temporal
conjunction (or numbering to indicate sequence
Schematic Structures of
Descriptions
Identification:
Identifies
phenomenon to be described
Description:
describes parts, qualities,
Linguistic Features of a
Description Text
Focus on specific
participants
Use of attributive and
identifying processes
Frequent use of epithets and
classifiers in nominal groups
Schematic Structures of
News Item
Newsworthy
Event(s): recounts the event in
summary form
Background Events:
elaborate what
happened, to whom, in what
circumstances
Sources: comments
by participants in, witnesses to and
Linguistic Features of a
News Item
Short, telegraphic information about
story captured in headline
Use of Material processes to retell
the event
Use of projecting verbal processes in
sources stage
Schematic Structures of
Anecdote
1) Abstract: signals the retelling of an usual incident
2) Orientation: sets the scene
3) Crisis: provides details of the unusual incident
4) Reaction: reaction to crisis
5) Coda: Optional—reflection on or evaluation of the
Linguistic Features of an
Anecdote
Use of exclamations, rhetorical
questions and intensifiers (really, very, quite, etc.) to point up the
significance of the events
Use of materials processes to tell what happened
Schematic Structures of
Analytical Exposition
Thesis
Position: introduces topic and indicates writer’s
position
Preview: outlines the main Arguments
Point: restates main argument outlined in preview
Elaboration: develops and supports each
point/argument
Linguistic Features of a
Analytical Exposition
Focus on generic human and non-
human participants
Use of simple present tense Use of relational processes
Use of internal conjunction to stage
argument
Reasoning through causal
Schematic Structures of
Hortatory Exposition
Thesis:
announcement of issue of concern
Arguments: reasons
for concern, leading to recommendation
Recommendation:
statement of what
Linguistic Features of a
Hortatory Exposition
Focus on generic human and non- human participants
Use of simple present tense
Use of mental processes: to state what writer thinks or feels about issue e.g. realize, feel, appreciate.
Use of material processes: to state what happens e.g. drive, travel, spend, etc.
Schematic Structures of
Explanation
A general
statement to position the reader
A sequenced
explanation of why or how
Linguistic Features of a
Explanation Text
Focus on generic, non-human participants
Use mainly of material and relational processes
Use mainly of temporal and causal circumstances and conjunctions
Use of simple present tense
Schematic Structures of
Discussion
Issue:
- Statement - Preview
Arguments for and
against or statements of differing points of view:
- Point
- Elaboration
Conclusion or
Linguistic Features of a
Discussion
Focus on generic human and generic non-human participants
Use of mental processes: to state what writer thinks or feels about issue e.g. realize, feel, appreciate, etc.
Use of material processes: to state what happens e.g. has produced, have
developed, to feed, etc.
Schematic Structures of
Reviews
1)
Orientation
2)
Interpretative
recount
3)
Evaluation
Linguistic Features of an
Review Text
Focus on particular participants (on
movies, TV shows, plays, operas,
recordings, exhibitions, concerts and ballets
Direct expression of opinions through
use of attitudinal lexis
Use of elaborating and extending
clause and group complexes to package information
Academic Genres
Academic genres or university genres
are types of academic writing products introduced to university students to
learn and to practice for their academic purposes, such as different types of
texts: textbooks, reference books, scholarly and popular articles and
Some academic genres
Textbook.
The aim of a textbook is
to communicate established
knowledge.
Scholarly article.
The purpose of a
scholarly article is to present new
knowledge or to provide new
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Thesis. A thesis is a major piece of
scholarly work.
Popular (non-scholarly) work. Popular
texts, in the form of either books or articles, aim to communicate established knowledge to the “general reader”.
Encyclopedia article. The purpose of an
encyclopedia article is to present
What genres do:
texts in different genres do:
communicate, explain, present, argue, inform, describe, narrate etc.
four “modes of discourse”: Exposition,
Other terms of text types
In some cases, the term genrecoincides with the term text type.
However, the former could be seen as a kind of umbrella term for a
communicative event, for which one or several more specific text types can be employed as the preferred vehicle of
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Research Articles (RAs)
Textbooks
Abstracts
Reviews (review articles and book reviews)
Undergraduate text types
PhD Theses
Popular science writing
Posters
Grant proposals
Research Articles (RAs)
Swales (1990) introduces the
Textbooks
"Textbooks [...] disseminate
discipline-based knowledge and, at the same time, display a somewhat unequal writer-reader relationship, with the writer as the specialist and the reader as the non-initiated
apprentice in the discipline, or the writer as the transmitter and the
Abstracts
Many research publications require
an abstract, which is a brief synopsis of the text outlining its major points. As Samuel Johnson (1755) defined the term, an abstract is "a smaller quantity containing the virtue or
Reviews (book reviews)
A
book review
is a research genre
where scholars evaluate other
scholars' published work. As such,
it is an editorially commissioned,
public evaluation, which is
Reviews (review articles)
The review article can be seen as a
special case of the research article. Its purpose can vary and its format is generally less rigid than the proper
Undergraduate text types
specific text types for different
kinds of assignments commonly
employed in a university setting,
such as
1.
Research Articles (RA)
2.The essay format
PhD Thesis/PhD dissertation
It has a special function in the academiccommunity. This written piece of text, typically amounting to 150-300 pages
(Swales 2004, p. 102), functions as a kind of scholarly qualifying piece of work,
Popular science writing
As an academic, there will be times when you need to explain your subject matter to a non-specialist audience. If you are
working in industry, you may have to keep the company board and the investors
informed about your research results. Working in the public sector means that you are likely to communicate to the
Posters
One kind of academic writing
that involves far more visual
consideration than traditional
articles is the poster display.
Along with the orally delivered
conference paper, the poster
display is a common way of
Grant proposals
Grant proposals, i.e. texts written by researchers requesting
funding for research projects, can be seen as a genre of its own.
The prototypical parts of a grant proposal (Swales, 1990: 186): 1. Front Matter
a) Title or cover page b) Abstract
c) Table of contents
2. Introduction
3. Background (typically a literature survey)
4. Description of proposed research (including methods,
approaches, and evaluation instruments)
5. Back Matter
a) Description of relevant institutional resources b) References
The essay format
The term 'essay' is used in a wide sense and can
refer to anything from a brief paper to a long degree essay.
The structure of an essay usually consists of three elements: Introduction – Body – Conclusion.
In the Introduction, the reader is introduced to the topic that will be discussed and to the argument that will be presented.
After the Introduction comes the main part of the text, the Body, where the discussion is carried out and the results are presented. In the last part of the essay, the Conclusion, the argument will be
